The Mix 041: Giulia Tess
Gun fingers-meets-mano a borsa, Giulia Tess takes us on a blood-pumping trip to the heyday of ‘90s clubbing and talks taking time in the studio, clubbing underage while donning a Von Dutch hat and finding home in London’s “all under the same roof” approach to genre
Giulia Tess enjoys finding a sweet spot between juxtaposing forces. Whether that is in her productions, which see her combine rough-edged breaks with glittering melodic synths, or her DJ sets — in which she has become known for dispatching raucous pumping house and spine-tingling euphoria, before eliciting tears-in-the-club from her unsuspecting audience with a well-timed, delicate slice of emotionally-tinged melody.
Born and raised in Southern Italy, Giulia first started DJing towards the end of secondary school, treating herself to a "shitty" Hercules controller as a reward for completing her exams when she was 18. "After a couple of months, I bought some turntables because I was obsessing a lot. There was a mix by DJ Makid called 'Mad Chillin'' that I loved, so I would do all the same cuts as him," she admits. "But you know when you feel like you like something a lot? I can feel it right away — I knew I wanted to do it, I wanted to spend as much time as possible and become really good." Despite living hundreds of miles away, she became "obsessed" with UK funky, breaks and bass — a preoccupation that would eventually lead to her leaving her native Pescara, and heading to London in 2016. "In Italy, I was more underground, more niche, than I am now," she says. "Which is surreal."
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She credits London's cross-genre appetites with changing her tastes, allowing her to connect the dots between '90s Italian tech-house, progressive breaks and thumping bass, all of which make up her current repertoire. As a DJ, she's steadily evolved from a London in-the-know favourite to festival regular, with slots at Field Day, Project 6 and an upcoming debut at Manchester's The Warehouse Project as part of the BICEP-curated CHROMA show. While a smattering of acclaimed releases on Future Bounce, LG105, and soon Local Action sister-label Clasico have allowed her to showcase her unique approach to off-kilter, affecting club music.
Ahead of the release of 'tempo00' next week, Giulia has put together a '90s clubland-inspired mix designed to get your blood pumping, whether you're heading to the gym or a Christmas party. Listen to the mix below and read the Q&A where Giulia talks balancing euphoric and melodic sounds, feeling connected to wonky music, and finding a home within London's cross-genre electronic scene.
Your new EP 'tempo00' was “three years in the making” — can you tell us about the process of creating the record? How important is it for you to take your time on releases?
I have this thing where I get bored of what I make, so I still make dance tunes but I'm trying to make something that I haven't made before to keep myself interested. I also get stuck, to be honest, and I'm busier than I was before, so I can't spend 12 hours on a tune every day. I like to think about it... with 'tempo00' I listened to it constantly on my way to work for months, and it never felt finished. But I liked that about it, and that's a constant in my production. I like that the structure that my tracks have is progressive rather than formulaic; Daphni does it a bit like that, if you listen to his tunes they are like gems. I truly enjoyed going back to it and developing it. Also, having Elle (AKA Clasico boss ELEANOR) giving me input was important, she encouraged me to get the EP ready... if it weren't for her, those tracks would have stayed on a pile of my demos.
So it's about being able to take your time to do something a bit different and keep yourself interested?
Yeah, the structure of 'crazy' doesn't make sense, it doesn't have the classic intro, drop, build-up etc. It's completely the opposite, and I enjoyed that. When I was like: “Right I need to finish it” a few months ago, I made three versions of it – I made a normal one, but it never felt right to me and Elle signed that originally. I played the weird version at work, which is what 'crazy' is now, and my colleague was like: “You should send this to Elle!” and that was because it's fun, the drop is actually the loop with a big bass — and in the end she liked it. I'm glad that as an A&R she likes riskier sounds, someone else would have signed the more canonic arrangement that was more “playable.” 'crazy' is wonky [laughs], like I struggle to play it.
How was it to work with ELEANOR on Clasico? I know you are close friends.
It was nice. I think she's good at giving feedback. She's not going to make you change a track like some other A&Rs who can end up taking on the role of executive producing the record. She's good at giving the advice that you need, whether that is technical or in terms of vibe — she has a good instinct for when she needs to be hands-on and when she might need to give me a bit of space. She's motivated and she enjoys what she's doing, she knows tonnes of music — you can see that she wanted her label to nurture the artists and the talent that she believes in, and that motivates me a lot. It's very motivating to work with women on records too, you get to avoid that classic A&R guy [laughs].
Clasico described 'tempo00' as “Serie A with a loan spell in the 'Peak Barclays”; or one hand with pinched fingers and one with gun fingers — Do you agree with that? Is this a meeting between Italy and the UK for you?
Yes, it reflects a bit the way I feel and my tastes which is a mixture of the two; I like old Italian tech-house and progressive records – there is one in the mix! But then, I'm completely absorbed by breaks and UK bass sounds... that's why I moved to the UK. On 'crazy' and even 'Serie A', you can hear that. It's '90s vocals with shuffle, wonky sounds — so yeah, I agree.
It's you!
It's me!
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So last year's 'Serie A', that was this sort of emotional love letter to the terraces — is there still a football-tinge on 'tempo00' or is this widening the scope of who you are a little more?
Maybe it's widening but I don't exclude it. Football is going to come back. [Laughs]
Could you tell us a little bit about your move to London? What had driven you to make the jump?
I moved to London in 2016, so eight years ago. I moved because I wanted to experience the scene firsthand; before I only ever got to connect with it online, and I felt like I needed it for myself to link up with other producers, to see how it is here with my own eyes and ears. I wanted to learn too, I wanted to improve my English too.
Were you living at home before?
I was living in Pescara, but I had lived in Milan for a short period before that but I didn't like it much, it wasn't for me. I like visiting, but living there is very different — I much prefer London for sure.
How do you think your taste has changed since moving to London?
I'd say I was always interested in breaks, bass and UK funky — but in Italy, things were a lot more regimented by genre. There was a big distinction between people who go to dance to house and techno, or people who go to drum 'n' bass and breaks parties — but moving to London made me realise that I could listen to it all, and combine these different sounds and I didn't need to be ashamed of it; they are all under the same roof here, connected. I think it made me become a better producer as well, I always put limitations on things in the sense of putting myself in a box — I thought I couldn't put a melodic pad on bass, for example. I think London opened my eyes.
Can you tell us about your first musical experiences? Maybe the music your parents listened to growing up? Your first rave?
When I was a kid, my mum had this Fiat Cinquecento; you know, classic European tiny mum car [laughs]. It had a cassette player and whenever she drove me to school I would play what I wanted on it, which was usually pop or whatever was popular – but I remember listening to Red Hot Chilli Peppers a lot. That made me realise I was musical. Then I was listening to music all the time, especially when I was a teenager – playing drums, then I eventually started DJing. There was this mix from Diemantle called “Music to Lose Your Car To” that I listened to over and over, also the Champion Boiler Room was very influential for me.
Do you remember the first time you went to a rave? Or maybe going to the club?
I think the club would be when I was 15. No one was checking the ID then, this is how old I am [laughs]. We used to take the train and go to Cocoricò in Riccione when we were 15-16, the music would be house and electro – but not the bad electro, before EDM arrived and ruined it. We'd dance with sunglasses and Von Dutch hats [laughs]. Then I started going to illegal raves, which in Italy usually feature hard techno and then drum 'n' bass in the morning — I wasn't super into the former, but because I was starting to listen to footwork and fast-paced UK genres, I felt connected to that scene. It felt alternative to me, and I was alternative compared to the more mainstream house scene.
Your productions always manage to toe the line between euphoria, melancholy and rowdy. Is this important for you when you're making music? Are you always aiming for that?
Yes. When I write music I'm communicating something that I have inside, so it's the most important part to create something that balances between those things — there's always something melodic. 'crazy' has that feeling of euphoria, but 'tempo00' is quite sad; actually, when we were shooting for the cover of the EP we had it on the stereo — the only track I couldn't listen to was 'tempo00' because it was too deep. It is important for me.
Do you approach your DJ sets in the same way? Do you still want to pull through those moments of emotion?
Yes. I'm very different from when I started in terms of DJing, now I approach DJing as if I'm doing a live set – people are coming to see me. Obviously, I'm not a selfish DJ and I'm not only going to play weird, emotional music and everyone has to listen to what I play; there's still that element of needing to read the room. But my preparation will be thinking about how I can get the people gassed so that I can drop that melodic tune.
Is there a particular example where you felt like you managed to capture that?
I do it a lot, but I think the time where I remember it being impactful was my first gig after COVID at Phonox, I dropped Ozzy's 'Eon Goed Moment' – it's a very melodic tune, it's not a pumper. People exploded. It came after a few euphoric tracks, so it was like: "Everyone can cry now." [Laughs]. It felt special because it was the first or second month after clubs reopened, so everyone was so receptive. It felt powerful.
Do you think your show on NTS differs from how you play in the club? Is the skillset as a broadcaster different? Does it inform you?
For me, they can be very separate depending on the slot — a breakfast show for example. But what I try to do usually on the radio is create club-angled sets that reflect a dancefloor selection. I do put some ambient in my show, at the start/end or in the middle — something a bit weird for the sake of it, but there is a different approach I guess? But it’s still in the same universe. I mean actually, I can tell you, that when I created my shows for Rinse, I would always envision someone driving around listening to me playing. At NTS my slot is the same, but I imagine people at home and it’s after dinner or they are having a little house party. If it’s an earlier slot though, I like to put together things that I listen to outside the club — maybe it’s having a cup of tea in the morning or getting ready.
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What’s coming up next for you?
I’m excited to play at The Warehouse Project for the first time and at Drumsheds too. I also can’t reveal much, but I am planning to release a lot more next year, so I’m taking December and January to finish some of that off.
Can you tell us about this mix?
In this mix, I wanted to encapsulate the beats and hedonistic vibe from the '90s dance music and club scene - which is, I think, what I tried to reflect throughout my whole EP. I put quite a few progressive breaks in there - something that has become a bit of a staple in my music and my sets (or so I’ve been told!). It’s become a bit of an obsession, so it was great to be able to channel that in this mix. This mix was created to get your blood pumping and I hope it can achieve that in whatever environment that means to the listener - whether it's to be played on a treadmill, a spin class or the afters at the office Christmas party, I want it to encourage people to move and get that huge lift that dance music is made to do.
Giulia Tess 'tempo00' will land on Clasico on December 11, pre-order via Bandcamp
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter
Tracklist:
Marco Bellini - Hi Tech Funk 3000
Nate S.U - Dimension
Secretsundaze - The Real Sun
Joe Koshin - Partition
Giulia Tess - crazy
DJ Life - Aberration
Wodda - Fastbreak
DC Salas - Sol
Giulia Tess - brk dwn
Scarlett O'Malley - Juice Break
DJ Seen - Dream Reflection
Max Watts - Shortlivedfeeling
Naajet - I Want You In My Life
Giulia Tess - you know
LWS - Steady On
Theorist - May Vary
Giulia Tess - tempo00